Bug Encyclopedia
Search and identify bugs & insects — beetles, butterflies, moths, ants, bees, spiders and more — with size, habitat, danger, behavior, and how to tell them apart.
Locust Borer
A slender black longhorn beetle boldly striped with yellow, closely resembling a wasp, commonly seen visiting goldenrod flowers in autumn near black locust trees.
beetle
Cottonwood Borer
A large, boldly patterned longhorn beetle in black and chalky white checkerboard markings, often found clinging to the trunks of cottonwood and poplar trees near its larvae's root tunnels.
beetle
Emerald Ash Borer
A slender, bullet-shaped beetle with brilliant metallic-green coloring, whose bark-tunneling larvae feed almost exclusively within ash trees.
beetle
Squash Vine Borer
A day-flying, wasp-mimicking moth whose orange fuzzy hind legs and metallic wings make it easy to mistake for a wasp as it darts around squash vines.
moth
Old House Borer
A grayish-brown to nearly black longhorn beetle whose larvae bore extensively through structural softwood, capable of causing large galleries hidden beneath the wood surface.
beetle
Spiny Flower Mantis
A small, boldly patterned mantis whose wing markings resemble a pair of eyespots, flashed open in a startling display whenever a predator ventures too close.
mantis-stick
Devil's Flower Mantis
One of the largest mantis species on Earth, this striking insect can suddenly rear up and fan out vividly colored wings and legs into a dramatic, flower-like threat display.
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Flower Chafer Beetle
Often clad in brilliant metallic greens, golds, and bronzes, flower chafers are day-flying scarab beetles that feed on flowers. Many buzz loudly in flight and keep their wing covers closed as they take off.
beetle
Red Admiral
A fast-flying, strikingly patterned butterfly with velvety black wings crossed by a bold orange-red band and white-spotted tips, often seen basking on tree trunks or sipping from fallen fruit.
butterfly
Red Flour Beetle
A tiny, flattened, rust-red beetle found in stored flour and grain worldwide, capable of flight and closely resembling the confused flour beetle apart from the shape of its antennal club.
beetleRed Paper Wasp
A large, rusty-red paper wasp that builds open, umbrella-shaped nests under eaves and in sheltered structures, often seen hovering near its comb.
wasp
Red-spotted Purple
A large, iridescent blue-black butterfly lacking tails, notable for closely mimicking the unpalatable Pipevine Swallowtail, with rows of red-orange spots visible along the underside wing margins.
butterfly
Red-legged Grasshopper
One of the most abundant and widespread grasshoppers in North America, the red-legged grasshopper is easily spotted by its reddish hind shins flashing amid a brown, mottled body.
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Red-Shouldered Bug
A dark, flattened true bug with a bright red-orange collar across its shoulders, often seen clustering beneath goldenrain trees and other soapberry-family hosts.
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Red Wood Ant
A large woodland ant with a reddish-brown thorax and dark abdomen, famous for building towering dome-shaped mounds of pine needles and twigs in forest clearings.
antRed Velvet Mite
A plump, brilliant red mite covered in a dense coat of short velvety hairs, often seen emerging onto the soil surface in numbers right after a heavy rain. Its vivid color and unusual size for a mite make it one of the more eye-catching arachnids most people will ever encounter.
arachnid
Metallic Wood-boring Beetle
The North American common name for jewel beetles, emphasizing the wood-tunneling habits of their larvae, which leave telltale flattened, D-shaped exit holes in bark of stressed or dying trees.
beetle
Flour Beetle
A tiny, shiny reddish-brown beetle that infests flour, cereal, and other dry stored foods, often found in dense clustered populations.
beetle
Deathwatch Beetle
A small, mottled brown wood-boring beetle famous for the faint ticking sound it makes by tapping its head against wood, historically associated with old timber-framed buildings.
beetleJagged Ambush Bug
A stocky, irregularly angular true bug camouflaged among flower petals, equipped with thickened, raptorial front legs it uses to seize visiting pollinators far larger than itself.
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Palo Verde Beetle
One of the largest beetles in North America, a heavy, dark reddish-brown longhorn beetle with long spiny antennae and a loud, buzzing flight that emerges from the desert soil around palo verde and mesquite trees in summer.
beetle
Crab Spider
Perched motionless atop a flower petal, often perfectly matched to its color, the crab spider is a patient ambusher that waits for pollinators to land within reach of its outstretched front legs.
spider
Bordered Plant Bug
A dark, oval-bodied true bug with a distinct pale margin around its wing edges, often mistaken for a large ant or beetle when its nymphs cluster together in tight groups.
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Minute Pirate Bug
A tiny, black-and-white patterned true bug barely visible without close inspection, the minute pirate bug is a voracious predator of thrips, mites, and insect eggs on flowers and foliage.
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